Sexy Halloween OK for adults, not OK for kids

I feel bad for women on Halloween. Wasn’t so long ago an adult woman could dress up as a hobo or a ghost and everything would be hunky-dory. But today? It only works if she dresses as a “sexy” hobo (think bandana-top and Daisy Dukes) or a “sexy” ghost (think sheer white lingerie).

Yep. For adult women, Halloween has been sexualized beyond all recognition.

Now as a man, I have no problem with this. In fact, I love it. My favorite “sexy” costume is the genie. Blame Barbara Eden, blame those low-waisted, butt-hugging genie pants, blame the wish-fulfillment aspect of genies, blame the fact an ex of mine once went dressed as a genie after we broke up and … well, I like genies.

And so while it must be a little stressful for women come Halloween, I’d be a fool to say I don’t enjoy it.

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But in recent years, things have taken a turn for the … not hunky-dory. Sexy Halloween costumes have trickled down. All the way down. To girls. Not just teenagers; but little girls. It’s getting downright creepy.

“I work at a Halloween store and every single woman who has come in to try on the costumes complains about how short everything is, especially with little girls,” said Liz Stevens of Hamilton. “I feel like writing to the CEO and tell him these little girls aren’t going to the club; they’re going trick or treating.”

Parents have also noticed this trend, as I found out when I posted about it on Facebook.

“I have no problem with women in sexy Halloween costumes, but I do have a problem with those same costumes being marketed to toddlers (and) teens,” said Lorrie Eubanks of Hamilton. “I will be making my daughter’s Halloween costume this year, and for those who can’t, I suggest leggings and turtlenecks underneath.”

Jed Knight lives in Ocean and has a two-year-old daughter. He bought a Little Red Riding Hood costume for her. So cute, right?

“I had to return it because we decided it was too sexy,” he said. (The phrases “too sexy” and “two-year-old daughter” should never meet.)

Peter Rura of Hamilton is with me on the adults getting sexy if they want, but for the kiddos …

“The craze for underage children to wear these short and skimpy getups are too much for today’s society,” he said. “I blame TV and the sexification of preteens.”

As it turns out, Rura may be on to something. I reached out to Dr. Lisa Wade, a professor of sociology at Occidental College in Los Angeles. Wade concentrates on cultural issues, and her take is similar to Rura’s.

“It’s the combination of two phenomena,” Wade said. “The sexualization of little girls has gotten ramped up in popular culture combined with the infantilization of women. From little skirts to babydoll T’s, what girls and women are wearing are becoming increasingly similar.”

That, along with the explosion of media, has created this weird thing where little girls walk around dressed like “Jersey Shore” extras, Wade believes.

“The ramping up of sexualization is tied to the explosion of media outlets, which started in the 1990s with the Internet. We went from 200 channels to literally an infinite amount of things to look at,” she said. “Advertisers and people creating programs needed a way to get eyeballs, and one of the ways they have done this is try to make things more extreme. This is across the board. Satire and humor has gotten more acerbic, movies have gotten more and more violent, reality shows are getting more out there. And sexualizaion part of that. Just look at Honey Boo Boo for proof that it works.”

And then comes Halloween, where “every single trend manifests itself,” Wade said.

As a parent myself, I’m not going to sit here all high and mighty and tell other parents that dressing their daughters like a sexy genie is a bad idea, but … it’s probably a bad idea. Of course, if you, my adult lady readers, want to dress like a sexy genie, by all means, dress like a sexy genie. And please let me know where you’re headed so I can stop by and say hello. Or send over a pic. A picture is fine. Whatever works.

But when it comes to the little ones ...

“It took me a lot of searching to find a piglet costume for my three-year-old that wasn’t a short dress,” Anna Tatusko posted. “Piglet? Really? I don’t even think piglet was a girl. I think it’s terrible that I’m expected to be a slut for Halloween, but it’s appalling that our daughters are too.”